The Paroo Floodplain and Currawinya Important Bird Area is a 7874 km² site comprising the floodplain

Floodplain

A floodplain, or flood plain, is a flat or nearly flat land adjacent a stream or river that stretches from the banks of its channel to the base of the enclosing valley walls and experiences flooding during periods of high discharge...

 and the associated wetland

Wetland

A wetland is an area of land whose soil is saturated with water either permanently or seasonally. Wetlands are categorised by their characteristic vegetation, which is adapted to these unique soil conditions....

s of the Paroo River

Paroo River

The Paroo River is a river in Eastern Australia and is often considered to be major tributary of the Darling River in eastern Australia, although its flow generally dissipates before it reaches the Darling...

 in north-western New South Wales

New South Wales

New South Wales is a state of :Australia, located in the east of the country. It is bordered by Queensland, Victoria and South Australia to the north, south and west respectively. To the east, the state is bordered by the Tasman Sea, which forms part of the Pacific Ocean. New South Wales...

 and south-western Queensland

Queensland

Queensland is a state of Australia, occupying the north-eastern section of the mainland continent. It is bordered by the Northern Territory, South Australia and New South Wales to the west, south-west and south respectively. To the east, Queensland is bordered by the Coral Sea and Pacific Ocean...

, Australia

Australia

Australia , officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country in the Southern Hemisphere comprising the mainland of the Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous smaller islands in the Indian and Pacific Oceans. It is the world's sixth-largest country by total area...

. It includes extensive areas of the Paroo-Darling

Paroo-Darling National Park

The Paroo-Darling National Park spans two distinct regions in the outback area of north-western New South Wales. This region covers the arid catchments of the Paroo River and the Paroo-Darling confluence to the south.-History:...

 and Currawinya National Park

Currawinya National Park

Currawinya is a national park near Hungerford in south west Queensland, Australia, 828 km west of Brisbane. Part of the mulga lands bioregion this is an area of dry sandy plain with small trees and shrubs...

s, both of which are listed under the Ramsar Convention

Ramsar Convention

The Ramsar Convention is an international treaty for the conservation and sustainable utilization of wetlands, i.e., to stem the progressive encroachment on and loss of wetlands now and in the future, recognizing the fundamental ecological functions of wetlands and their economic, cultural,...

 as wetland sites of international importance, as well as of the Nocoleche Nature Reserve.

Description

The IBA contains the lower Paroo floodplain, including the overflow lakes, as well as the Yantabulla swamp and the Cuttaburra Creek floodplain. The area contains a complex network of channels, wetlands and lakes. Water is received from local rainfall or the Paroo River. Floods occur erratically; water enters from the Paroo, the Warrego River

Warrego River

The Warrego River is situated in south west Queensland and north west New South Wales, Australia. It is the northernmost tributary of the Darling River....

 via Cuttaburra Creek and other channels, or backs up from the Darling River in the south, filling shallow channels, floodplain depressions and numerous ephemeral

Ephemeral

Ephemeral things are transitory, existing only briefly. Typically the term is used to describe objects found in nature, although it can describe a wide range of things....

 lakes. Ranging to 5.5 m in depth, some lakes retain water for up to three years. The shores and channels support samphire

Samphire

Samphire is a name given to a number of very different edible plants that happen to grow in coastal areas.*Rock samphire, Crithmum maritimum is a coastal species with white flowers that grows in the United Kingdom...

, lignum

Muehlenbeckia florulenta

Muehlenbeckia florulenta, commonly known as Tangled Lignum or often simply Lignum, is a plant native to inland Australia. It is associated with wetland habitats, especially those in arid and semiarid regions subject to cycles of intermittent flooding and drying out...

, canegrass and other grass

Grass

Grasses, or more technically graminoids, are monocotyledonous, usually herbaceous plants with narrow leaves growing from the base. They include the "true grasses", of the Poaceae family, as well as the sedges and the rushes . The true grasses include cereals, bamboo and the grasses of lawns ...

es, with black-box

Eucalyptus largiflorens

Eucalyptus largiflorens, or Black Box, is a species of Eucalyptus which is endemic to Australia. It is a tree grows up to 20 metres in height...

 and other riparian woodland

Riparian zone

A riparian zone or riparian area is the interface between land and a river or stream. Riparian is also the proper nomenclature for one of the fifteen terrestrial biomes of the earth. Plant habitats and communities along the river margins and banks are called riparian vegetation, characterized by...

 communities which flood seasonally. Currawinya National Park also has Acacia

Acacia

Acacia is a genus of shrubs and trees belonging to the subfamily Mimosoideae of the family Fabaceae, first described in Africa by the Swedish botanist Carl Linnaeus in 1773. Many non-Australian species tend to be thorny, whereas the majority of Australian acacias are not...

shrubland

Shrubland

Shrubland, scrubland, scrub or brush is a plant community characterized by vegetation dominated by shrubs, often also including grasses, herbs, and geophytes. Shrubland may either occur naturally or be the result of human activity...

s on sand sheets and dune

Dune

In physical geography, a dune is a hill of sand built by wind. Dunes occur in different forms and sizes, formed by interaction with the wind. Most kinds of dunes are longer on the windward side where the sand is pushed up the dune and have a shorter "slip face" in the lee of the wind...

s. The region has a desert climate

Desert climate

A desert climate , also known as an arid climate, is a climate that does not meet the criteria to be classified as a polar climate, and in which precipitation is too low to sustain any vegetation at all, or at most a very scanty scrub.An area that features this climate usually experiences less than...

, with low and very variable rainfall usually falling in summer; mean annual rainfall at Currawinya is 278 mm.

Birds

The site has been identified by BirdLife International

BirdLife International

BirdLife International is a global Partnership of conservation organisations that strives to conserve birds, their habitats and global biodiversity, working with people towards sustainability in the use of natural resources...

 as an Important Bird Area

Important Bird Area

An Important Bird Area is an area recognized as being globally important habitat for the conservation of bird populations. Currently there are about 10,000 IBAs worldwide. The program was developed and sites are identified by BirdLife International...

 (IBA) because, when conditions are suitable, it supports up to 400,000 waterbirds with over 1% of the world populations of Black Swan

Black Swan

The Black Swan is a large waterbird, a species of swan, which breeds mainly in the southeast and southwest regions of Australia. The species was hunted to extinction in New Zealand, but later reintroduced. Within Australia they are nomadic, with erratic migration patterns dependent upon climatic...

s, Freckled

Freckled Duck

The Freckled Duck is a moderately large, broad-bodied duck native to southern Australia. The duck is protected by law...

 and Pink-eared Duck

Pink-eared Duck

The Pink-eared Duck is a species of duck found in Australia.It has a large spatulate bill like the Australasian Shoveler, but is smaller at 38–40 cm length. Its brown back and crown, black and white barred sides and black eye patches on its otherwise white face make this bird unmistakable...

s, Grey Teal

Grey Teal

The Grey Teal, Anas gracilis is a dabbling duck found in open wetlands in New Guinea, Australia, New Zealand, Vanuatu and Solomon Islands....

s, Australasian Shoveler

Australasian Shoveler

The Australasian Shoveler is a species of dabbling duck in the genus Anas. It ranges from 46–53 cm. It lives in heavily vegetated swamps. In Australia it is protected under the National Parks and Wildlife Act, 1974...

s, Hardhead

Hardhead

The Hardhead, Aythya australis, is the only true diving duck found in Australia. Hardheads are common in the south-east of Australia, particularly in the Murray-Darling Basin, but also in the wetter country near the coasts. They are moderately nomadic in normal years, but disperse widely in times...

s, Red-necked Avocet

Red-necked Avocet

The Red-necked Avocet is a water bird found throughout Australia, except for the northern parts of the Northern Territory....

s, White-headed

White-headed Stilt

The White-headed Stilt or Pied Stilt is a bird in the Recurvirostridae family. It is sometimes treated as a distinct species Himantopus leucocephalus, sometimes included in the Common or Black-winged Stilt as Himantopus himantopus leucocephalus.This shorebird is found in Australia, Brunei,...

 and Banded Stilt

Banded Stilt

The Banded Stilt is a nomadic stilt from Australia. It belongs to the monotypical genus Cladorhynchus. It gets its name from the red-brown breast band found on breeding adults, but this is mottled or entirely absent in non-breeding adults and juveniles. Its remaining plumage is pied and the eyes...

s, Sharp-tailed Sandpiper

Sharp-tailed Sandpiper

The Sharp-tailed Sandpiper, Calidris acuminata is a small wader.- Taxonomy :More recently, a review of new data has indicated that this bird should perhaps better be placed into the genus Philomachus- as P...

s and Red-capped Plover

Red-capped Plover

The Red-capped Plover , also known as the Red-capped Dotterel, is a small plover. It breeds in Australia. The species is closely related to the Kentish Plover, Javan Plover and White-fronted Plover.-Description:Red-capped Plovers have white underparts and forehead...

s. It supports regionally significant numbers of Australian Pelican

Australian Pelican

The Australian Pelican is a large water bird, widespread on the inland and coastal waters of Australia and New Guinea, also in Fiji, parts of Indonesia and as a vagrant to New Zealand.-Taxonomy:...

s, Eurasian Coot

Eurasian Coot

The Eurasian Coot, Fulica atra, also known as Coot, is a member of the rail and crake bird family, the Rallidae. The Australian subspecies is known as the Australian Coot.-Distribution:...

s and Whiskered Tern

Whiskered Tern

The Whiskered Tern is a seabird of the tern family Sternidae. This bird has a number of geographical races, differing mainly in size and minor plumage details....

s. It also holds populations of Inland Dotterel

Inland Dotterel

The Inland Dotterel also known as the Australian Dotterel and sometimes placed in the monotypic genus Peltohyas, is a medium-sized Charadriine plover.-Description:...

s, Caspian Tern

Caspian Tern

The Caspian Tern is a species of tern, with a subcosmopolitan but scattered distribution. Despite its extensive range, it is monotypic of its genus, and has no subspecies accepted either...

s, Bourke's Parrot

Bourke's Parrot

The Bourke's Parrot , also known as the Bourke's Parakeet or "Bourkie", is a small parrot originating in Australia and the only species in its genus Neopsephotus...

s, Grey-headed

Grey-headed Honeyeater

The Grey-headed Honeyeater is a species of bird in the Meliphagidae family.It is endemic to Australia.-References:* BirdLife International 2004. . Downloaded on 26 July 2007....

, Black

Black Honeyeater

The Black Honeyeater is a species of bird in the family of honeyeaters, Meliphagidae, and the sole species in the genus Sugomel. The Black Honeyeater exhibits sexual dimorphism with the male being black and white while the female is a speckled grey-brown; immature birds look like the female...

 and Pied Honeyeater

Pied Honeyeater

The Pied Honeyeater is a species of bird in the Meliphagidae family.It is endemic to Australia.-References:* BirdLife International 2004. . Downloaded on 25 July 2007....

s, Slaty-backed Thornbill

Slaty-backed Thornbill

The Slaty-backed Thornbill is a species of bird in the Pardalotidae family.It is endemic to Australia....

s, Hall's Babbler

Hall's Babbler

Hall's Babbler is a species of bird in the Pomatostomidae family. It is endemic to Australia and was first described in 1964.-Name:...

s, Chirruping Wedgebill

Chirruping Wedgebill

The Chirruping Wedgebill is a species of bird in the Cinclosomatidae family.It is endemic to Australia.-References:* BirdLife International 2004. . Downloaded on 27 July 2007....

s and Chestnut-breasted Quail-thrush

Chestnut-breasted Quail-thrush

The Chestnut-breasted Quail-thrush is a species of bird in the Cinclosomatidae family.It is endemic to Australia.-References:* BirdLife International 2004. . Downloaded on 25 July 2007....

es.